Friday, December 17, 2010

1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs Chuck McElroy

Who is this? former major league relief pitcher Chuck McElroyWhat is this? An autograph card from the 1996 Leaf Signature setWhere'd I get it? Purchased from CheckOutMyCards.comHow much did it cost? 75 cents.

Why is this so special? McElroy spent 13 seasons in the major leagues from 1989-2001. He pitched for 9 different teams, including the New York Mets.

During the 1996 season, McElroy was traded from the Reds to the Angels for Lee Smith. Somehow Donruss managed to have these cards printed and autographed in time to include them with their releases later that year. It seems like a decent argument against sticker autographs, but I think that cost concerns keep them around more so than logistical ones.

McElroy was selected in the 1997 expansion draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he was traded to Colorado the same day for outfielder Harvey Pulliam. If any Diamondbacks fans are reading this, do you consider McElroy to be one of the original members of your team?

McElroy's autograph isn't necessarily pretty, but I give him points for making it legible.

I'm not sure what might show up in the mail, but right now it looks like I'll finish up posting the cards of players whose first names begin with "D," "E" or "F" next week. That will clear the way to finally start with "G" after Christmas.

A quick note on links

I'm only putting autograph-related links in this blogroll. However, if you have a blog or a collector site not specifically about autographs, but with an autograph page or an "autograph" label on your blog posts, I'll put that link here.